Marvel News & Notes

Clearly, Marvel has no issues at all with the various problems in Falcon and the Winter Soldier, as THR (Kit/Crouch) says showrunner Malcolm Spellman will write the next Captain America film. This is deeply concerning, although Jac Schaeffer (whose poor writing hurt WandaVision) had her Black Widow script thrown into the dumpster, so we can hope for the same approach to Spellman. Regardless, I'm now in the unfortunate position of worrying about the quality of Loki, the show I'm most excited about.

After this story came out, Deadline (Kroll/D'Alessandro) repeated that Chris Evans is in negotiations to return and that it's likely whatever project he's returning for is separate from Spellman's (which is just common sense). This is an unfortunate situation for both Anthony Mackie and the MCU at large, because given how weak Falcon was, Evans will overshadow him. I don't think a Falcon film with, say, Torres as his sidekick, will generate much interest (echoing the same circumstance in the comics).

On the numbers side of the show, right after I dropped the Nielsen ratings in my Falcon and the Winter Soldier episode five review, a new set covering the first two episodes dropped, putting the show 3rd overall and 1st among original programming, which has since been updated to three episodes where it seems to be 2nd (overall and among originals behind The Irregulars), although there may be data entry errors as it's minutes watched has not changed in the update. It's a fascinating spike and I'm interested to see if it will continue. As I'll get into in my review of the show, what we do know for certain is that Falcon generated far less social media chatter than WandaVision.

One of the main takeaways from the Disney+ shows thus far is how limited they are: WandaVision had three goals (Wanda becomes the Scarlet Witch; Vision is back; and tell Monica Rambeau's origin), Falcon had five (Falcon becomes Captain America; Bucky is mentally fine; tell John Walker's origin; Sharon Carter is a villain; and Zemo is held in the Raft). All these things are easily summarized in a film for those who did not tune in.

Lizzie Hill wonders if Bucky will become Nomad (Murphy's IP scoop four months earlier), based largely on a few comments in Falcon and the Winter Soldier. While it's certainly possible, I'm not sure what the point would be--where would you take his character at this point (what evolution, really, is left for him)? With that said, I love Sebastian Stan, so any excuse for more of him is welcome.

Sutton believes the recent Disney-Sony deal for US streaming is a sign of a renewed deal forthcoming. While I agree with his conclusion, I don't think the deal itself means anything given that Sony signed a very similar (but more comprehensive) deal with Netflix beforehand (also US-only)--especially considering not all their Marvel IP is going to Disney+ (cf).

Nick Santos' (THS) is repeating Norman Osborn rumours from the past (as well as unabashedly repeating Sutton's take above), albeit with a different slant. Here's the substance:

We know Norman, played by Willem Dafoe in the Raimi films, is making his [MCU] debut. Many people have questions about what this means for the MCU. Part of this new deal means that Marvel has access to characters that they didn’t have before. Norman Osborn/Green Goblin was one such character. Disney and Marvel Studios have wanted to use him, but his rights were exclusive with Sony. Meaning Sony were able to use him in full, but Marvel Studios, up until last week, couldn’t. Obviously, things got murky with the inclusion of Willem Dafoe’s Goblin, but that has sort of softened up Sony to the idea of sharing the character.

Marvel Studio’s plan was to bring in Willem Dafoe as the primary villain for [Spider-Man 3], but I can exclusively share that because of this most recent deal there now exists a separate version of Norman Osborn in the MCU. Peter will begin to research his earth’s version of Norman Osborn after fighting with Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin; but there’s a twist, he’s seemingly not an awful guy. He has political aspirations, makes charitable donations, and even supports The Avengers. They’re playing off the idea that it’s a different earth, and no villain or hero is guaranteed to be on the same path.

What Marvel has wanted to do is explore Norman more; and without putting him in a Goblin outfit (at least not right away), start to peel back the layers of his villainy. This will take place over the next 3-5 years as Marvel begins to set him up as a major villain for both Spider-Man and The Avengers going forward. Marvel has offered the role to an actor who has not accepted the role yet. This actor is a prominent New Yorker who has a history with Marvel Studios. When or if the deal is finalized, we’ll share more.

There's a remarkable assertion here, which is that Sony and Marvel have agreed to an alteration of their sharing agreement very recently to allow an MCU version of Norman Osborn, and that the role has already been offered to an actor. What's less contentious is that Feige would want a different kind of Osborn in the MCU--that's very on brand for what Feige has said about rebooted characters in the MCU. The idea of Dafoe's Green Goblin as the main antagonist for Spider-Man 3 is something Daniel has recently echoed. It also behooves me to add that Sutton, back in October, 2019, said Chameleon would be the primary antagonist of Spider-Man 3--not so much (although he and others have said the film has undergone extensive changes since its original conception).

I can't decide if Santos is another Joshua Munn--someone who makes plausible sounding speculation from what's known, but has no actual inside information--or has an actual source (in the article he claims to have seen a 'document'). The odds are the former, but we can't yet dismiss the latter.

Sutton, echoing Giant Freakin Robot (Dietsch, using one source), says the Punisher will face off against Spider-Man in the future. Sutton adds that there are plans to include Daredevil, having already said Kingpin will appear, if perhaps not in the same film. I like the idea, although this implies an adult tone that's absent from the Sony films thus far (how it handles this kind of story matters more than who appears).

Daniel (aka Production Weekly) has dropped production information about Amazon's Silk series (a reality which, I think, makes connections between the MCU and Sony's Marvel much more difficult to argue for).

Episodic getTV /Amazon

Start Date: End of August 2021 thru February 2022

[CINDY MOON]

Character portrayed is Korean-American and female presenting, 19-29 years old. Christine is an indomitable spirit who can’t help but care. After years abroad doing field research in remote isolation, Christine instantly quit her job and returned home when she learned her family had gone missing. A prototypical first-born daughter of immigrants – smart, self-assured, funny but trying to please everyone – Christine will find her family at any cost. But she's been under-socialized and her predilection for extreme empathy forces her to feel the emotions of everyone around her deeply. So, she both seeks connection and gets it in unexpected ways, if not always with the people she wants. Still, you mess with Christine at your peril: she has a spine of steel beneath a warm exterior.

This sounds like a generic YA story aimed at a female audience and, indeed, I'm sure that's the intention (all its missing is a love triangle). Given that we have production dates attached, it seems a lock to go forward. What's not clear is if Sony will attempt to integrate its streaming shows with the movies (or, indeed, if it can given Amazon's involvement).

Sutton (and Kieran Bugg) wrote about Spider-Woman possibly being in the MCU and let's look at the key elements:

Sony and Marvel Studios would like Holland to cameo. … Insiders told Geekosity that Spider-Woman’s presence in the MCU was integral to the new streaming arrangement. ‘Disney wants all these Spider-Verse movies on their network once they’re off Netflix. Once that was agreed to, Marvel Studios was open to more collaborations with Sony beyond Holland’s Peter Parker.’ … Sources leaked that both studios are close to finalizing the decision to have Spider-Woman enter the MCU and eventually join the Avengers.

There is some confusion here, as Sutton writes "The agreement brings Sony's library of films to Disney Plus after a brief exclusive window on Netflix." That's not true at all--the deal signed was US exclusive and only included part of Sony's library. I think what he's referring to specifically is Sony's Marvel content, but we don't even know if that's true in the US (see above). He also says "Questions about whether Sony's Spider-Verse spinoffs will be connected to the MCU seemed to have been answered." Do they, when some of them are appearing on Amazon? Sutton also thinks Spider-Woman will be connected to Secret Invasion because in the comics that happened, but I think that's unlikely since the latter will film before the former.

Those concerns aside, this echoes Santos' notion that Marvel is in the midst of negotiations with Sony to expand the existing sharing agreement.

Sutton understandably saw the reveal that Russell Crowe will play Zeus as confirmation of his story about Hercules (cf, in which the character will get his own Disney+ show). He thinks a cameo by the character in Thor 4 is likely and so do I. He also repeated that Marvel was most interested in the 80s version of the character via Bob Layton's 1982 limited series (one that emphasized comedy).

Apparently there's a dedicated blog to Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan), Ms Marvel News, claiming to have a scoop about the show:

According to our source, the MCU’s Red Dagger will have a drastically different history than his comics counterpart. For starters, there are going to be multiple Red Daggers of Pakistan who will play a key role in the second half of the show. The character that Aramis Knight portrays, of course, will be part of the group, too, but his name will be Imran instead of Kareem. In this adaptation, his connection to Kamala will be more of a friendship, rather than a romance like in the comics. Kamala’s connection to the Kamran (portrayed by Rish Shah), however, will remain romantic.

Changing things for a character who has never been that popular is a good idea, although the above doesn't make me any more interested in the show.

More from 4chan (Spider-Man 3; I've left the colourful spelling intact):

• Spiderman 3 Details (REAL) Expect the first teaser trailer in July.
• Tobey and Andrews is not the same spiderman in the past movies more likely an alternate Raimi Spidey, alternate Webb Spidey. Same with the Villians that is going to show up from the Multiverse
• Mysterio is alive and well, his benefactor is Fisk.
• Norman osborn is messing with Oscorp technology and trying to communicate with himself through the Multiverse He's the reason of Spiderman Villians from the other Universes showing up in the MCU
• Norman osborn is running for Senate and planning to Build a team to replace the Avengers
• The 3 spidermans needs to capture the Norman Osborn of Tobey's universe that's been contacting Norman osborn in the MCU Tobey maguire ends up sacrificing himself at the end of the movie
• We're getting a Miles Morales sony movie (Miles morales from Tobey's universe)
• Andrews is sticking up with Doctor Strange to find his way home. i guess he's in DS2 [Doctor Strange 2]

I don't buy this at all--I'm including it simply because some people are. One of the main problems is the inclusion of Wilson Fisk--if Vincent D'Onofrio (or another Kingpin-like actor) was on-set, it would have been spotted and reported just like the other cameos. I like the idea of Miles at Sony, however.

Reddit (Spider-Man 3):

• 1-The problem of Peter identity being revealed will be resolved quickly and will not be the focus of the film. Peter will go to school normally.
• 2-Marvel carefully chose the characters that will appear in the film, having a hard time with Sony (which changed the script several times to add new characters, making Kevin Feige intervene in favor of the director)
• 3-It was difficult to convince tobey to reprise the role of spider-man. The rumors about him demanding $ 20 million are false, the real reason being that the actor believed he was old for the role.
• 4-The film would bring Peter of Tobey older and more experienced, but they decided to use CGI to rejuvenate the actor and it will be the same Peter of 2004. Andrew Garfield will be the same as TASM2. [This sounds pointlessly expensive]
• 5-The doctor strange will show the way back to the world of each version of Spider-Man, Andrew will be aware of not letting Gwen die, changing the ending of TASM2.
• 6-3 endings have been recorded and Marvel has not yet decided which one will be used. The film will be smaller than speculated and 90% of the rumors are false! I participated in the recordings of 1 of the finals and I can say that the audience will be divided, as it is too early for a certain character to return (I'm not talking about mysterio, he is incredible in the film).
• 7-I am part of the creation of the conceptual arts and I went to the set several times with the team to see what we were going to have to represent, I can say that “there is a guy devouring worlds, that is, devouring realities”. [This sounds like Galactus, which would be an odd way of introducing him]
• 8-Nicholas Hammond returns, please don't be speculating that he is Ben! Small participation along with Thomas Howell.
• Pay attention to the hawk [Hawkeye] series, the ending connects a lot with "no way home"

I'm inclined to dismiss this, although I'd be interested to know why the poster thinks Hawkeye will lead-in to Spider-Man 3.

4chan (Spider-Man 3):

The movie opens with the daily bugle. Peter is on the run, he tries hiding by sleeping with the homeless, he gets caught. He is defended successfully in court by Matt Murdock. Everyone still knows who Peter is. Peter goes to Sanctum and messes with something, he then enters a trippy/dream like state where he revisits his past from the moment he got bit to Uncle Ben dying etc, Peter also lives through the other Spidermen’s lives in a weird way. In the movie Peter visits Ben’s grave. Dr Strange is not always on screen as he uses his voice to guide Peter through different realities. Tobey Maguire has an emotional reaction to seeing Ock again, Ock hasn’t aged whilst Tobey has. They have a rematch. Not all villains are from their respective universe timelines as the Goblin is from a reality where he didn’t die. The Tinkerer is in the movie although I don’t know to what extent. The Stark arc reactor and technology used to time travel is present in the film. Ock goes crazy as he tries to find his wife in Tom’s universe but she doesn’t know who he is. The Spider-Men mentor Peter and tell him what they have been through and the consequences. The Goblin kills Ned, Peter fights back. Ned gets buried and Peter finishes high school. Strange gives Tom’s Peter a Christmas gift which lets him talk to Ben for a few minutes. Stark’s presence is felt in this film but Peter now thinks of him differently. Peter just wanted to protect the “Little guys” and hates how Stark bought him to Berlin which caused all of this mess. JK simmons plays multiple JJJ. The Scorpion is in the film and chases Tom’s Peter as his identity is still known. Michelle and Peter’s relationship does not continue.

I think this is nonsense (it's overly convoluted), although I'd be happy to say goodbye to Michelle.

4chan (Spider-Man 3; I only kept things we haven't heard a million times before):

• Tom Holland's Peter Parker messes around with something that looks like a Globe toy (?) in the Sanctum Sanctorum (Tyler [his source] couldn't see this scene well because it was dark).
• Spencer Smythe has a cameo. [The Smythe inclusion goes back to Murphy in October]
• Gustav Fiers is in the movie.
• Arian Moayed plays a detective.
• Final battle is on the Statue of Liberty and it's holding a big shield of some sorts similar to Captain America.
• Someone dies in this film but Tyler doesn't know who since he was only able to see Tom Hollands crying face and not the body.

This is a lot more restrained than most of the other things we've seen and nothing seems inherently implausible--still, grains of salt required.

4chan again (Armor Wars):

• Sam Rockwell will return as Justin Hammer, freed from prison on good behavior and restarting Hammer Tech after Tony’s death
• Hammer and Crimson Dynamo are the series’ main antagonists as they both attempt to steal Stark tech. Hammer is the “behind-the-scenes threat” and is trying to outsource his activities while he’s on parole; Dynamo is the “physical threat” who steals equipment by force. Dynamo and Hammer each think they’re using each other
• Walton Goggins [Sonny Burch] returns to reveal he was working for Hammer, who had been pulling the strings from inside prison. Hammer is basically trying to hire people to steal different tech from the different heroes, attempting to synthesize the ultimate weapon (Pym Particles, Stark suits, vibranium, etc)
• [Anthony] Mackie is set to cameo in the series, Marvel is trying to flesh out the Mackie/Cheadle chemistry in hopes to replicate some of the Iron Man/Captain America dynamic between the two [Given that Cheadle's age, this seems pointless]
• Riri [Williams] is a recurring star in the series, sort of the protege of Rhodey. Think that kid from Iron Man 3, she sort of helps Rhodey out with some of the technical issues in his suit that he can’t understand. Series ends with Rhodey visiting her on her birthday with the full-on Ironheart suit for her, setting up her show

This is plausible, albeit the villains are traditional Iron Man foes rather than War Machine. I've always thought the show was meant to lead in to Ironheart, although if the character remains a Mary Sue that improved origin won't be enough to save her.

4chan (general):

• Tigra is in She-Hulk. I don’t know who her actress is.
• The Leader is the main villain of She-Hulk. He is the one that turns General Ross into Red Hulk.
• Ghost Rider and White Tiger are two heroes set to appear sometime in the next year, but I’m not sure which movies they’re in
• Hugh Jackman is 50/50 to return as Wolverine, but I don’t know if he would be the same as the Fox universe

This seems like a mishmash of other people's material, although White Tiger is usually a villain, so this is presumably the Angela del Toro version.

4chan (She-Hulk):

• Hey I work on she hulk as a script supervisor assistant
• Here’s somethings I can tell you rn
• Ginger Gonzaga is playing tigra
• Jennifer Walters was actually older than Bruce banner but due to the blip she’s now younger
• Ty Burrell is returning
• Liv Tyler [Betty Ross] is in the last two episodes
• Paul Rudd’s ant man makes an appearance in the last episode
• Tim Roth [Abomination] has a new look
• General Ross teases red hulk
• A-bomb is also teased
• Amadeus Cho is in this
• Mutants make an appearance
• Jenifer Aniston was almost in this as Jen Walters older sister
• Jessica Jones cameos as a private investigator for a rival lawyer in one episode

As everyone commenting on this pointed out, no script supervisor assistant would post this while declaring their position, so this is debunked.

4chan (Doctor Strange 2):

• The name of the actors contacted by Marvel to play teen Billy and Tommy, are Jaeden Martell as Speed, and Noah Schnapp as Wiccan, they aren't be in [Doctor Strange 2] because his role will be for Young Avengers, also Jack Dylan Grazer were the first option for Speed, but he has a contract with DC There is also an option, that Julian Hillhard and Jett Klyne, grow up with their characters, but that depend on public opinion about the boys.
• Wanda is a villain until after the middle of the movie, and yes, there is a fight scene beetween Strange and Wanda.
• America Chavez arrives into the reality of MCU due the events of [Spider-Man 3], she is very important because her powers.
• I don't have too much infomation about the cameos in the movie, but there will be 100% sure, I have only two names at this point, Bruce Campbell and Chris Evans.
• Also, What If show is not only an animated alternative version of MCU superheroes, is too much more important than you think, related with this movie. [I don't believe this at all]
• This movie are like Captain America Civil, this means that the movie will develop the character of Doctor Strange, but he is no the only main character, and the movie plot is not 100% Doctor Strange, that's why the movie will lasts 3 Hours.
• Post credit scene of Spiderman No Way Home is about this movie. Also the movie have too many references and connections with Thor: The Dark World.
• After this movie, Antman And The Wasp: Quantumania is the next big phase 4 movie and the last one for now

Clearly English was not the poster's first language, but that aside, this is vague and I frankly don't believe it--to me what drives home its flaws is giving importance to What If?, when the much more impactful Disney+ shows thus far have worked very hard to do accomplish nothing important at all.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)